Nature Knows Best - Not Humans

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'

Nature, the planet, the oceans are well and alive.  Our planet nature is far too integrated, complex and interconnected for any man to have the audacity to interfere, tame and control.

Man is an animal not really different from many and most of the wildlife on earth.  While we may think we are superior, we are not.  We have done more harm to earth's environment than any other creature. We have polluted our earth environment as well as littered space with hundreds of thousands of junk pieces and bad chemicals, for sure.  Earth is not ours to harness, but to live as one in spirit with all creatures.

Until we wake up and drop our superiority complex thinking everything should be as seen through human minds (human-centric only) the earth will not be well for a human home. However, the earth is and will continue to be, grow, expand, change and evolve.  It just will not be favorable to humankind.  We may go extinct as did the dinosaurs and millions of other species.

We, humans, are just a brief, simple moment in the live of earth.

Good Night from Maine, USA

That’s Alotta of Smoken

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'

Cigarette butts are the most common trash item collected during beach cleanups, accounting for over one-third of the total debris collected in the past 25 years. The Ocean Conservancy’s annual beach cleanup volunteers have collected over 53 million cigarettes and cigarette filters, in addition to 9,549,156 plastic bottle caps, 14,766,533 food wrappers/containers and 7,825,319 plastic bags.

Join and sign up for international beach cleanup in September (here)

Good Night from Maine, USA

Corn - Feed Me or Move Me? Why

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'


Is it true that $3 of every $4 dollars our USA Federal Government gives out in tax credits for renewable energy credit goes towards corn ethanol? Is this a good thing to remove so much production from feeding the world when so many are starving? Does it even pass the smell test? I know my vehicle now gets 10%-15% less mpg due to ethanol. And, there may be a push (not common sense) to increase the ethanol content in gas! Do we know why this is a bad or good idea?


Go Figure

Good Night From Maine, USA

Neat Plastic World

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd' We are making some interesting progress addressing the massive amounts of plastic deposited into our oceans. What a great item to get involved in to help our oceans, animals and ourselves. The food chain impact is: 45:1 ratio weight of plastic versus planton; fish and birds eating "look alike plastic' food; bigger fish each smaller fish and concentrates toxins in their bodies. We eat fish! Here are some interesting links: ATI Rutgers Flyer Algalita Good Night From Maine, USA

2010 Climate Change

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'

Climate has changed for millions of years. It has been more than 42 degrees hotter about 65 million years ago. It has been hotter, it has been colder. Animals, creatures and man has died and re surged. Many became extinct. Again, it is a circle of life. And, yes man may become extinct too if it gets too hot or too cold. Unfortunately, it really all centers around man. Mother earth and the climate are very healthy -- but the most conducive climate to humans will not remain static and in this most human-growing state. It is not about climate change, global warming or the polar bear - it is simply about man. Take man away, the earth thrives. Take the ants a way and it die

Too many people, too much stuff, too much useless possessions.

Good Night From Maine, USA

Oil -- Good to Bad to Lessons Learned

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'
I know we are all emotionally cranked up about the environmental disaster in the Gulf coast. And we should be.

Now we must simply pick up and focus on the cleanup and how we can better control & regulate all oil, mining, and wind projects. And change ourselves and our behavior.

Keep in mind we as individuals are just as "guilty" as any oil, government or private business. You can't expect a different outcome if you don't actually change the game plan. USA makes up 5% of the world, but consumes more than 25% of its fossil fuel energy. That would be you!

We have a responsibility to really change and until we do, the Gulf spill also highlights that all the oil spilled there is barely a couple hours of our daily use.

Go figure. Good Night From Maine, USA

The Oilers

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'
Wow, what a mess in the Gulf - that's an understatement. Again, man manages for his benefit only and thinks he can control and guide the environment. I do not subscribe to that philosophy. I do believe Mother Earth always recovers - it has since it was a fire ball, water ball and chemical cauldron. What is your opinion?

The only continuing disaster is "The Man" and his (our) arrogance.

Mother Earth was kind enough in the last 60,000 years or so to over up weather and environmental conditions extremely conducive for The Man to not only survive, but thrive. Our time will come and I pray Mother Nature will prevail. All animals have their time, their boom cycle, their bust cycle, their evolution cycle and their death cycle. Regardless of our self ranking as the highest intellect, we remain just another animal on this Earth.

Technology for Earth

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'

Okay, now we have to be very careful of "The Man" using technology to "save the planet". First, the planet does not need saving. Mankind is simply a passing zit to the earth. Earth does not have a decease like cancer or aids - unless it is "The Man".

Earth is not sick and will continue to evolve calmly, explosively and continue to build upon its past 4.5 billion years of blissful existence.

"The Man" wants to reflect the sun, plant massive algae blooms, churn the ocean depths, control the weather and stop the earth from doing things "The Man" does not like. Next, since the magnetic poles are evolving, "The Man" will want to take some spaceships and put two large magnets to prevent this too!

Earth is not raging, violent nor working against anything. It is just being and will continue to be.

It is "The Man" and his expectation he can use technology solutions to "fix" the earth. It is "The Man" that will be the cancer of the earth. He will destroy us if we let arbitrary self serving approaches to climate control, in the false vein of saving the earth, start, continue and be the "save the earth" paint brush. Think for yourselves -- think for earth.

Good Night From Maine, USA

Really - Is the economy really better?

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'
The stock market lifted itself above 11,000. Oh yeah. Now the spinning heads are saying "America is Back"

Well, that is for sure. The fed leaders are certainly teamed with the financial, corporate, auto and energy firms. All the effort, bailout and "regulations" are custom crafted for them, not for us - the downtown Main Street.

Organizations such as these are attaining near record profits and near record bonus payouts. Yes, nothing has change -- "America is Back". And, up to the same old tricks of maintaining power in the hands of very few.

Yes, "America is Back" -- now what are you, the average individual going to do about it? The same - do nothing??

Good Night from Maine, USA

Carbon Credits - What the Hell?

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'
Now that is a good plan! Let's go to really pristine places with lots of dirt, lots of trees and other carbon sequestering resources. Let's give carbonating spewing companies a choice. Let them stay in their current location, using their current polluting system but pay for these carbon eating trees "over there"; so they do not have to spend money to modernize their facilities.

Now that is a good plan -- pollute the heck out of what might be a heavily polluted area, or at least an area with considerable population. Yes, that is a good plan but lacking the true cost of ownership. Cheaper for the company, but how do we determine the cost to health, home values and other quantitative items.

Go Figure. Good Night From Maine, USA

Right Idea, Questionable Approach

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'
Well, we have some Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) setting aside huge tracts of land for the sake of conservation. But they may have forgot the very basic reason behind conservation - putting land aside does little without educating and modifying the behavior of humans. And, engaging all people in the balance of use.

In a recent case, NGOs and some large industrial folks cooperatively set aside very large tracts of land for carbon sequestering. Yet they ignored the local indigenous people, the ones who have the most to gain and lose through land acquisition. They were not included and they were kicked off the land they had protected and used for 100s and 1,000s of years. The NGO "posted" the land by eliminating local indigenous and historical livelihood uses.

The land became a resource for others - industrial and greedy poachers. The land become worse off yet the NGO and industrial supporters remained in their entrenched way. Which is to come in "from away" and know better what and how to do things and project their methods, processes and expectations on others. In these case they destroyed the land. And, this is neither the first nor the last time they have and will do this.

The local South American country government is now "against" the effort as are the local indigenous folks -- and with good reason.

When are we going to change and learn the land can only be stewarded by the locals who have the greatest stakeholder position and need to keep the land in its best natural state? When will the intellectuals, scientist, environmentalist, ecologist and the many other "ists" from away, sitting in their corporate, NGO, scientific and academic offices going to get it?

It is about the people stupid! Nature will take care of herself for sure -- she just may not be as supportive to this exceptional period conducive to the rapid growth of the human species. That will change.


Another good night from Maine, USA

Hydrogen Advocates - Be Cautious of the Wolf

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'

For more than 50 years, have we been misled, lied to and manipulated by our government, by the US automotive manufactures and by our energy industry? Have they for years collaborated on oil resources through fighting in the middle east to "protect" 2/3rds of the worlds oil reserves? With support coming from our powerful oil and automotive leaders?

And, how long have big industry special interests maintained their industry position? They still are at it under the banner of green energy. Fossil fuel industry has been successfully stalling, preventing and killing the electric and hybrid car. They also have been developing hydrogen powered vehicles; yet hydrogen is four time more expensive in energy production costs. And, no one has ever solved the capacity issue of carrying enough hydrogen on a car to go very far. Are there "6 hydrogen miracles" that must occur before and if hydrogen could be "vialble"?

The point is we have been manipulated by very powerful government, automotive and fossil fuel companies for years. They are still doing it. It is time for us to really rally and take the shackles off our electric energy transportation opportunities. There are literally thousands of solutions already out there - batteries, capacity, distance, storage, generation, speed and design. Yet these big 3 continually fight it -- they have actually stopped electric many time in the past and now are leading the call that hydrogen is best!

Well, go figure. Of course they would. The government is beholden to oil and automotive. That is one reason they failed in the last decade and that is why our government bailed them out. Go figure, it is not a conspiracy, it is an outright well defined plan!


Well, Good Night From Maine, USA!

Say What It Is - Say What You Mean - Don't Be A Clean Turd!

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'
This year's term was "Political Correctness." The winner wrote: "Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rapidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end. "

Fail - Fail Often, Fail Fast -- Persistence

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'

Fail - Fail Often, Fail Fast

“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” — Theodore Roosevelt

Success is going down many paths, backing up, redirecting and finding the right route.

The key is to do it while using the least amount of fuel as you can; and don't run out -- persistence.

Climate and Warming Is Natural

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'
Global Warming & Global Climate.
Climate and warming is natural. The planet has had many cycles and will continue to have many cycles of cold, hot, dry, wet, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, floods, fires, tsunamis, extinctions, extreme solar flairs, space debris collisions, animal creations and other natural ecological evolution.

Yes. Man has had a profound affect on this and the pace. So have other natural things and animals. But man has not solely caused the warming. Of course, Man should act responsibly and minimize his impact and do everything within his power to change his own behavior. But man should not necessarily interfere with nature by trying to save an endangered species, or tumble the cold ocean bottom water to the surface to increase nutrients at the surface, nor create an artificial atmosphere of CO2 on another planet so Man can easily live there, nor should we sequester carbon deep into the ground, nor should we place space mirrors -- we are not God nor should we be the masters of the environment, all things and nature.

The emotions run high on all of these topics, positions and attitudes. At the core of all of this is THE MAN -- it is all about THE MAN not the planet. If you read the core of sustainability definition from 1976 and since, it remains about THE MAN. It remains about saving us, not nature. We say save nature, stop the warming. But it is really about save nature to save Man. Except if we did not save Man nature would still be "saved".

Remember, the planet will keep on changing -- hotter, colder, wetter, dryer etc. The period it is in today is an extremely small nano-second whose current climate just so happens to be ideally suited to THE MAN's growth and evolution. It is a blip; it has not been this way for very long. Naturally, earth will change into a period of extreme hostility -- to THE MAN. But that is not a bad thing for nature, only us.

So ask yourself why sustainability definitions are human-centric and not necessarily good for animals, earth and nature. We define it in our terms. If we were not on this earth, would sustainability even exist? Sustainability of what -- ourselves of course.

The earth has been sustainably changing for 4.5 billion years.

Do the math. If we have existed say for 100,000 years and the earth is 4,500,000,000 years old, why should we try to "preserve" and freeze the earth and all its animals in the state as we know it today for such an infinitesimal blip? Why would this latter current period be "better" say than 1 billion years ago? It isn't nor should it be. It is not man-vs-nature, bad weather, and natural disasters (which are natural evolving events -- which may be "disasters" to THE MAN! but not nature). It is our planet growing and evolving -- naturally.

Like all creatures, we should evolve and live and die as nature continues. But of course, in "THE MAN-centric" definition and view of things, we won't.

So, please do not spout the polar bear is dying, or this natural thing is disappearing, or the sea level is rising. Come clean and tell it like it is. We use these emotional tags to cloak the true issue -- it is all about "THE MAN keeping things the way he wants them and wants to control them.

Go figure!

Good Night From Maine, USA

The Circle of Life -- The Dollar Tree

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'

A couple hundred million years ago there was the Pangaea. And a couple billion years before that a hostile, hot, fiery and toxic atmosphere. Few organisms lived on earth.

As the Pangaea spread and split, the earth started to become more environmentally friendly to organisms. These organisms prospered and evolved into new plants, insects, mammals and fish.....and humans. Some of the plants produced tiny seeds.

The seeds were spread by animals, water, glaciers and wind to all parts of the world. Some of these seeds germinated into ..... trees.

The trees prospered, grew big, tall and old. They produced millions more seeds for the animals and wind to spread. More trees grew old. All was balanced by nature.

Then, the earth provided the most favorable and friendly atmostphere and weather ever for The Man! The Man used trinkets, gems, gold, furs and stones to barter and trade for other things he needed for survival.

These trinkets and wares were heavy and cumbersome. So The Man cut down trees to make paper and then turn paper into the dollar! The tree gave its life so The Man had a dollar bill to carry around and buy the natural resources like land, trees, food, clothing, shelter and fire. All the things that only nature could provide. Without nature, The Man would have none of these.

Now The Man uses his tree-to-dollar money invention to buy more trees to make more dollars.

The Man is killing a lot of trees and digging up a vast amount of resources and minerals making more dollars to buy land and trees for conservation. He is considered very wealthy and rich when he has large quantities of dollars in his pocket.

Wouldn't The Man be just as wealthy, or even more so if he just sustainably co-existed with nature and what nature has to offer instead of killing many of nature's offerings in an unsustainable manner?

So, in summary, kill a tree, make a dollar so The Man can kill more trees and make more dollars and use them to go "save a tree". The Circle of Life for the Dollar Tree!

Go figure

Good Night From Maine, USA

Cloning -- The God Power of Man

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'
Wow! Can you image if man had the power to clone animals 100,000 years ago. Many animals may have been saved from extinction. Maybe even man would not have evolved as we have either.

Now a national nature, wildlife and conservation organization is cloning the endangered black-footed cat. They are using domestic cats as surrogate mothers inserted with embryos for the black-footed cat.

How do you feel about the human race doing these types of things? After all, earth is 4.5 billion years old; it has killed and created many forms of life over its course. Life will continue to become extinct, climates will always change and new forms of life will continue. Only if man would stop messing with mother nature.

Man is the only endanged species. If the climate changes earth will continue to live life. We might not make it. Especially if we think we have a "right" to change and "help" mother nature.

Good Night from Maine, USA

Our Plastic Ocean Dump

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'

Check out the web, search on plastic in our oceans and you will find some frightening stories about how much plastic is in the oceans. You will quickly see how sea birds, animals and mammals are negatively affected. And you see conflicting opinions of how, whether and when it breaks down.

With all our great technology, could we incentivize the manufactures of and users of plastic to clean and sweep our oceans? This would be a good candidate for a high school or college competition to make a workable and scalable contraption that can vacuum our oceans free of plastic.

Plastics -- is the thing to watch!

Good Night From Maine, USA

Emotional Overrides of Science

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'
For Maine, 2009 was the summer that wasn't. It was also the wettest "summer" on record. And now, it is almost September and the nights and mornings are already cooling - we're beginning the fall Indian summer weather now.

On to nature and the environment. Should people use the emotionally charged mantra of "we are losing 20 species a day" and "the polar bear is dying" and the earth is warming to justify their view, mission and fund raising? Shouldn't they also include the rates of warming, cooling, and animal lost prior to the modern presence of man? Should they also include more facts of extinction and how mankind is now flourishing in the most conducive environment for mankind? And, without the natural process of losing species our human evolution and the evolution of new species would not exist. I would like to see more facts, science and less emotion from people, especially the press who never truly live and experience nature except through adventure tours.

I personally am worn out on how much land a trust must save, has saved for our benefit and how this land is forever protected for the benefit of some species. The goal is admirable in many minds; it is sold as motherhood and apple pie. But is it science and does it reflect the fact the earth, our planet will always survive with or without man? Man is at risk, not the planet. It has lived and will live much longer than a single species such as man.

Now ants and bats, that is another story of how they impact and contribute to the current condition of earth.

Good night from Maine, USA.

Stuff It - To The Marketers!

Another in a not-so-regular series of posts highlighting nature's nature & 'ain't that odd'

So, here it is again. My stuff on stuff!

We worry about the government becoming controlling of all things in our lives. Well you are already being very controlled by the great marketers! They have studied and effectively harvested the human triggers of feeling good about getting a deal a bargain on unneseccary stuff. They convince you you have to have it -- stuff. You have done so much stuffing that Americans are driving the storage business to record highs to store all that stuff you bought! It is so much madness to me that you have to go buy all that stuff to make yourself feel good, be more important and impress you friends and the "Jones". AH, but the marketers know how to entice you, make things appear very urgent (act now -- but it) and how it is a great deal when it is on sale and right next to other stuff that is the same but higher priced.

Marketers have out performed cults in controlling and manipulating your the hunt/gatherer instincts. They know how to leverage your homo sapien ingrained behaviors.

So, get a back bone and get real. As you worrying about global warming and drive your SUV to wholefoods, get real and fight the mind control that marketers have developed just for you. Think before you buy. Think about the entire life cycle of that stuff and the impact it will have on your life cycle before you but.